The Displacement of Insanity

Chapter 3

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
The alarm clock squealed. I woke up and turned it off, it was 6:45 am. Nothing had felt right since last night, everything was off. I got up and got dressed in my usual mostly black and red attire, gave the cat some fried egg I had made before I left, and headed out the door to the high school.
I opened the door to Mr. Davison's classroom and received a startled look. I was early. Only once had I ever been early and that was the first day.

"Well you're here early, you know it's only like 7:30."
"Um, I, uh, was just dropping off my things and going to get some coffee. Yeah." I said astounded, it wasn't usually even 7:45 before I left my house.

"I'll be back around, uh, 8.. yeah 8 sounds about right." I stuttered as I dropped my things in the desk behind Mr. Davison's and walked out of the classroom.

Down the road from the high school was a little café next to the gas station, a short walk really. I saw a familiar face on the 10-minute walk, Daniel Joseph I believe was his name. He was one of those tall guys with a deep voice and a passion for rock covers of Disney songs if you know what I mean. We passed but he stopped and turned. 'I wonder what the TA is doing out so early...' he thought. We talked for only a moment before he asked if I was headed to the café for some hot coffee or to just think about things.

This guy I swear, he was one of those people you'd trust from the moment you meet them but he also could be the most awkward person if he couldn't find a good topic. He asked if he could join me to the café which I gladly obliged, thankful to have company. So many people would've been extremely concerned if he didn't look like a graduate student rather than a sophomore, but he towered over me with twice the build and a jawline stronger than my wifi connection at home, crewcut hair and from what I saw of him in class he was almost always in either gym shorts or nice jeans. He must've been feeling nice today and decided to wear a nice polo shirt and dark blue jeans.

"So what's with the get-up? I don't usually see you dressed up for school." I asked after we ordered our coffees and sat at a nearby table.

"Wrestling banquet tonight," he said before taking a sip of his hot coffee, "I can't make it home in enough time after school to get back here on time for it so I just dressed up early." He tried to hide it, but I saw that he had burned his tongue on his coffee and I laughed at his efforts to smoothly cover it up.

" Ah- I see what you mean, I used to have to do that sometimes for track and field." I lied, I've never been in track in all my 134 years but it seemed fit for the situation.

We talked on for a while longer then we both, almost simultaneously, said we should probably get to school before we were late. I didn't know what time it was but I knew we'd been there for around 45 minutes or so and it was a 10-minute walk back to the school, surely we'd be late no matter if we ran or not.

Half running down the school lane, we finally got there. Walked into class to find that only half the students were there. I checked my phone and saw it was only 8:02, 13 minutes before the first-period bell rang.

"Whoa, that's not possible," Daniel said rhetorically when he saw the time. "It was like 8:00 when we left how did we get here in 2 minutes? I mean I know I'm fast but not that  fast."

I couldn't fathom what happened, we made it back from the café in less time, ultimately than if we rode in a car. My dark red jeans clung to my legs with sweat from running for the first time in years, my chest heaved. Daniel stood there like a rock, lightly panting and curious as to how we ran almost a mile and a half in 2 solid minutes.

I was baffled, this has only happened today, strange things like this. Grasping the situation was beyond my reach.

"Ha! Well, I've set a new record for myself," Daniel said jokingly taking a seat, " Hey Miss, you think we could try that again sometime?" He commented to a friend about how hot I was and how much he dug pale chicks. Gross. Some people came around friends, maybe he'd be a different person next time I bump into him in the halls.

The bell rang and everyone visiting their friends took their seats. Mr. Davison got up from his desk and declared that he would not be in class for the next two weeks due to his wife, who had just given birth to his first child; a daughter, Carah. He then preceded to tell the class that I will be watching over the class for him while they do a 10 page guided book report over a novel chosen by the class. This was all new knowledge, hopefully, this would positively impact my TA credentials back at university. "Last but not least, students, there will be an assigned substitute to help Ms. Bolser. His name is Mr. Charles Coy and I expect you to all respect him as you would me, got it?"

The class collectively nodded.

"Good. Ms. Bolser, anything you'd like to add?"

'Please don't have anything else to say I want to get home,' he thought. I could see his adorable daughters face in his thoughts and I smiled, I could sense his pride and knew he didn't want to be here at all.

"No, sir, get home," I said smiling at him, " I'm sure we can all handle ourselves while we choose the book."

He smiled back, beaming, and announced to the class that he was leaving and as the sub arrived. He took his seat, but not before handing me an outline for the report that I passed to the class.

Daniel, still showboating, grabbed his paper from my hands and winked. It was awkward.

At 9:14 the substitute arrived. He had a familiar face, someone I've seen before, maybe even talked to. Mikey. That's where he'd been there once when I visited. He had dark blond hair and blue-green eyes but Charles, that was not his name.